&quote;ARIEN&quote; (Alien) - The Arecibo Incident (eBook)

INTRODUCTION

Major M. was seated at the Patio Del Níspero within the Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was Monday, 7:10 a.m., and the Walter Reed Hospital and Medical Center Doctor was reviewing his talking points and lecture notes for his forthcoming Tuesday late afternoon Forensic Pathology Conference. The ambiance was serene, and the air was still and quiet. His senses would be interrupted momentarily by the roar of overhead fighter jets and the whirl of helicopter blades. Probably a military exercise or drug interdiction, he thought. Refocusing, he returned to his lecture preparation. Aromatic, gastronomic scents would soon drift into the open-air dining patio space. The continental breakfast was his favorite—huevos revuelto con chorizo (scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage), cheese (pastry) bites (“quesitos”), pan de Mallorca (sweet bread sprinkled with powdered sugar), mango fruit slices, jugo de naranja (orange juice), and cafe con leche (coffee with steamed milk). El Convento Hotel, in the heart of Old San Juan on Calle del Cristo, is a landmark, a historic hotel with old-world charm and sedate splendor. The building was constructed in 1651 and was initially used as a Carmelite convent for over 350 years. The Spanish Colonial architecture and design have been preserved and restored to their period elegance. Major M. appreciated the rich, dark, reddish-brown overhead mahogany wooden beams, adorned, handcrafted decorative Andalusian ceramic tiles, Old World tapestries, wood-carved sumptuous chairs, velvet settees, antique chests, conquistador-era furnishings, and art. Walking in the footsteps of current and past world leaders and international celebrities gave this place its signature of renown. Still, the venue and ambiance were what he was most fond of and charmed by, and these were second to none. The famous Parque (Park) de las Palomas, with benches to sit and relax overlooking San Juan Bay, is a respite at the southern tip of Calle del Christo. Major M. enjoyed meandering the streets and callejuelas (small, narrow streets), especially walking by the old eighteenth-century San Juan Cathedral Bautista, where the city’s founder and first governor, Juan de Ponce, was buried. Surrounding El Convento Hotel are the narrow streets of old San Juan that were laid with adoquines—blue-gray, centuries-old stone paver bricks that served as ballast for Christopher Columbus’s and later European trade ships that were to set sail to the New World after the discovery of Puerto Rico in 1493. The slag, or waste from the iron-smelting process used in shipbuilding, would oxidize over time to this unique, colorful blue-gray appearance.

Circumstances that day would later become chaotic, and Major M. could not anticipate the course of events for the day. The foreseeable future would be changed . . . forever.

Encountering an Alien, extraterrestrial interstellar species would indeed be an extraordinary, monumental, and transformative historical event in human history. Speculation of such an encounter encompasses what-if scenarios and short- and long-term scenarios, especially the implications for science, technology, military preparedness, planetary security, national sovereignty, society, and religion.

THE ENCOUNTER: “FIRST CONTACT”

The encounter was plausibly predicted to occur one day through signal detection via advanced radio telescopes or by direct visitation to Earth by an Alien, extraterrestrial species, or interdimensional travel. What is more, the “First Contact” circumstance hypothetically could range from a peaceful encounter to accidental confrontation (due to misinterpretation or misunderstanding) or even to a deliberate hostile encounter (possibly an outright aggressive interaction, provoked or unprovoked).

THE ARECIBO INCIDENT

The tranquil night was accentuated by the indigenous coqui frog’s serenade, whose sound (“co-kee”) punctuated the air surrounding the Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest radio telescope observatory nestled in the northwest corner area of Puerto Rico. More than three decades earlier, on November 16, 1974, the radio telescope had sent a siren song cryptically into the cosmos, transmitting radio signals that danced across the cosmic expanse. Little did mankind realize those signals would later beckon visitors as a directional beacon to our solar system.

It was an ordinary Sunday evening at the Observatory until the monitoring systems detected an anomaly—a signature unlike any cosmic, Earth-based, satellite, atmospheric interference (hiss) noise hitherto ever recorded. Dr. Elena Ruiz, a dedicated astrophysicist and director of the Arecibo Radio Telescope Observatory and SETI project, was the first to understand the anomalous radio transmission pattern.

“Doctor Ruiz, come quickly,” shouted the on-call post-doctorate student, Juan Marty, tending the instruments, oscilloscopes, meters, and gauges. As she rushed into the control room, the panel readings displayed a peculiar inflection tracing originating from a distant corner of the galaxy, globular star cluster Messier 13 (M13, also known as NGC 6205) in Hercules Constellation.

The transmission partly matched the complex pattern of outbound signals the project sent from Arecibo over three decades earlier to the very same Constellation.

Figure 3 Messier 13

The signal received was a message sent back from a star cluster comprised of several hundred thousand stars (range: 300,000 to over half a million in number). It is the fifth-largest Constellation in the observable sky, lacking first-magnitude stars. It was not an echo or background terrestrial or satellite noise. The signal had been (intentionally) sent to our solar system!

“Hay un mensaje”. . .

“We have received a response,” Elena murmured loudly, raising the crescendo of her voice as she repeated herself, hardly believing her uttered, labored words. Again, her breathing was increasingly growing labored as she repeated:

“We’ve received a message” . . .

“We’ve received a message” . . .

“We’ve received a message” . . .

The radar at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) within the Cheyenne Mountain complex in Colorado had tracked something, now designated as Object U-011X, that was later to be identified as a luminous metallic object hurtling toward Earth, now just below the ionosphere in a location whose latitude was near the equator and just entering the stratosphere. The unknown craft was leaving a trail of vibrant ionized atmospheric plasma color-charged hues, in green (predominantly) and, to a lesser extent, red to violet, with a few white areas seen streaking across the night sky in its wake. Object U-011X approached with remarkable speed, then slowed and ultimately changed direction, affirming that it was indeed under intelligent control, navigating through the atmosphere with unparalleled speed, then stepwise diminishing its entry speed in a graceful parabolic descent.

Commotion and chaos ensued at the Ramey (Borinquen Field) Air Force Base 141st Air Control Squadron and National Guard military base, home for the Southern Command in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is located in the extreme northwest corner of the Island Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The alert was sent by the Punta Borinquen Radar station nearby and simultaneously tracked by NORAD radar, the latter from its far-reaching Cheyenne Mountain Complex headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, near Colorado Springs, at 6,035 feet. A hurried mobilization of fighter jets was commanded to intercept the unidentified intruder. No transponder signal had been detected. Two early Lockheed Martin Raptor (Rhino) F/A-22 jets scrambled immediately into the starlit night, tracking the entry flight of the Alien, extraterrestrial craft, now deemed a Bogey (“phantom”) object. Course, speed, closest point of approach (CPA), and trajectory path were calculated. The position vectors were radar plotted. NORAD was shadowing the craft’s entry heat and atmospheric disturbance signatures. Electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors were operational and additionally being employed. Two-way communications between NORAD and the airborne F/A-22 fighter jets were continuous and ongoing, using the Ultra-High-Frequency (UHF) Guard Band 243.0. Tensions were rising. In approaching the UFO/UAP, no apparent exhaust heat plume nor sonic booms were detected upon its abrupt atmospheric entry.

The Alien, extraterrestrial craft, approximately 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 meters) in diameter, attempted evasive maneuvers. Still, the military fighter jets were, at this point, too close and relentlessly closing in, maneuvering with their 2-D thrust-vectoring capabilities and with afterburners lit. Mach 1.75 (approximately 1,342 miles per hour) was achieved. To surprise the “visitor,” the Raptors had used their advanced, skunk-works stealth profile, low radar cross-sectional (RCS) design. The uninvited visitor craft exhibited adroit maneuverability and agility. The F/A-22 jets possessed integrated avionics and internal weapons bays to reduce air friction...